Background to this inspection
Updated
6 July 2019
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by an inspector and an Expert by Experience that made telephone calls to people using the service. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care and an enablement service to people living in their own houses.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 24 May 2019 with telephone calls to people and ended on 29 May 2019 with staff interviews. We visited the office location on 28 May 2019.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 13 people who used the service and seven relatives about their experience of the care and support provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager, operations manager, an occupational therapist and three enablement support workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and risk assessments. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including quality monitoring audits, complaints, staff training, and policies and procedures were reviewed.
Updated
6 July 2019
About the service
Kent Enablement at Home is a domiciliary care agency that provides intensive and short-term support to people in their own homes. The Enablement Team provides support that aims to encourage and support people to lead as independent life as possible. This maybe following an accident or a stay in hospital. There were 86 people using the service at the time of our inspection.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People spoke positively about the service they received saying the staff had supported them to increase their skills and independence. People were at the centre of their care and support and developed outcomes and goals that were worked towards and eventually achieved. People told us they would recommend the agency to others. Comments from people included, “They are wonderful, and I am very, very grateful that I can have them” and “They are caring and kind, I don’t know what I would have done without them.”
People’s safety had been closely monitored with guidance in place for staff to follow to reduce potential risks. People were promptly referred to other healthcare agencies for support if a risk was identified. Staff understood the potential signs of abuse and knew what action to take if they had suspicions.
There were enough staff available to meet people’s needs. Staff were recruited safely to minimise the risk of unsuitable staff working with people. People received their medicines as prescribed by their GP.
Staff received the training, skills and support to meet people’s needs. New staff completed a robust induction process. Staff felt there was an open culture where they were kept informed about any changes in people’s needs.
Weekly meetings discussed people’s progress and whether any additional support was required from health care professionals. Staff worked alongside people to build their skills, knowledge and confidence to life as independently as possible.
Staff were kind, caring and friendly towards people; promoting their privacy and dignity at all times. People were asked for their views about the service they received and were encouraged to make suggestions for improvements.
Systems were in place to respond quickly to any changes in people’s health needs. There was a joint working partnership with other health agencies to ensure people received the appropriate support quickly.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Regular quality monitoring was in place to measure the effectiveness of the service.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection: The last rating for this service was Good (published 23 November 2016). At this inspection we found the service continued to be Good.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.